The classiest whisky around
John Walker's "Prestige and Rare Collection" dazzles the eye as well as the palate
Bangkok’s whisky connoisseurs were treated to a super-luxury assortment of Johnnie Walker earlier this month when the world’s most widely distributed Scotch whisky unveiled John Walker & Sons: The Prestige and Rare Collection.
After the successful launch here last year of John Walker & Sons Voyager Yacht, the firm returned to share its top-line products, including rare blends such as King George V Edition, The John Walker, John Walker & Sons Odyssey and the Diamond Jubilee.
The event, widely hailed as the brand’s most extravagant to date, took place at the British Club Bangkok on Silom Soi 16, which was elaborately transformed into the “House of Walker” for the occasion. Guests could stroll through an exhibition on the firm’s illustrious history while savouring the blends mentored by two of its most respected representatives, regional brand ambassador Andy Gaunt and Blue Label global brand ambassador Jonathan Driver. Pop-jazz singer Matt Goss from the UK was there to lend his beautiful voice.
This is the 80th anniversary of the year King George V granted John Walker & Sons a royal warrant. In that time the firm has proved its worth again and again in its standards of quality and service.
Behind every bottle of whisky is the story of a family of extraordinary gentlemen, from John Walker’s humble start in a grocery shop in Kilmarnock, Scotland, to Alexander Walker I’s insatiable drive to expand the family empire and Sir Alexander Walker’s commitment to innovation.
Their passion for excellence, passed on to three generations and more, is seen in the new collection’s exceptional blends.
The John Walker honours the brand’s founder. Hand-picked from a reserve of more than seven million casks, it represents the toils of just nine distilleries. Each of these were used by John Walker himself, and every batch comes from a single cask of century-old wood. Only 330 bottles were made.
John Walker & Sons Odyssey commemorates the entrepreneurial spirit of Sir Alexander Walker and is a modern interpretation of a remarkable decanter created over 80 years ago. The whiskies come from the finest hand-picked single malts, blended and then married in European-oak casks. Each taste unveils an astonishing blend of flavours, complex yet exceptionally smooth.
John Walker & Sons King George V Edition is a handcrafted whisky recalling the granting of the royal warrant in 1934, an honour it retains to this day. This exquisite blend evokes the timeless elegance of the 1930s, an era of Hollywood glamour and burgeoning luxury travel – and a golden era for Scotch whisky.
In 2012 John Walker & Sons celebrated Queen Elizabeth’s 60 years on the throne with a blend called Diamond Jubilee. It mixes rare malt and grain Scotch whiskies distilled in and maturing since 1952, the year Her Majesty acceded to the throne. Its creation was a once-in-a-lifetime privilege for master blender Jim Beveridge and his apprentice, Matthew Crow. The final, traditional step of marrying was carried out in casks of oak provided by the Queen from her private Sandringham estate.
The diamond-shaped baccarat-crystal decanters stand on a crystal base with six radial legs to reflect the decades of the Queen’s enduring reign, and are adorned with Britannia silver, selected for its purity. Each edition includes a pair of lead Cumbria-crystal glasses engraved by Philip Lawson Johnston. There are 60 editions on sale.
